Today was the day of strike action for public sector workers across Scotland. Unions across the public sector joined together to protest against the changes to public sector pensions. Essentially, they aren't pleased with recent changes that require workers to pay higher pension contributions and base pension payments on an average salary over their whole working life, rather than on their final salary.
The news estimates that approximately 300,000 Scots walked out of their jobs. The result of the strike is that the Glasgow Underground was shut down, hospital appointment and operations were cancelled or postponed, schools were shut down, and many parents had to take the day off to take care of their children. The University unions have joined the call for strike action, with the result being that all classes were cancelled, some buildings were closed due to security staff striking, and barely anyone showed up to work today.
The support staff in my office did come in to work, but needless to say, with no students, classes or academic staff, it was not a productive day. We trudged along for most of the morning and stopped for a tea break. As we were breaking up, we heard noises coming from the street below.
Looking out our office windows, we saw a huge crowd of protesters gathering to march. For the next 30 minutes the crowd continued to grow in number, with various union groups lining up to join the march. Just after 12:30, the protest got on it's way, as thousands of workers marched through the city center, carrying banners, chanting and drumming.
It was a sight to see!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thanksgiving
This year we actually had two Thanksgiving celebrations. The meals were both hosted by others, but I contributed food, bringing mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, apple pie and drinks. I forgot to take pictures at both events, but I can assure you we had a great time.
Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. There are no gifts involved- it is simply a day to gather together to enjoy the blessings God has given us and be thankful for them. How sweet is it that Americans have an entire day set aside simply to fellowship, eat some great food, and praise God. And, if you are stateside, you even get a day and sometimes two off of work to take part.
Living in Scotland, I don't get any time off for Thanksgiving, but we have always managed to fit it in somewhere. Usually Ross and I celebrate with our friends, who are or are married to American ex-pats. Each American involved brings something to contribute and the meal always ends up being a beautiful mixture of family traditions with a little bit of Scottishness thrown in. I know that some people find these kinds of holidays and festive meals a huge amount of work with little reward, but I love it. There is nothing sweeter to me than a group of friends and family gathered around, enjoying each other and the meal I have helped prepare. (The part I do hate is washing loads of dirty dishes, but Ross tends to save the day by offering to take care of this.)
When I look around a room a see a table piled high with tasty food, friends and family sharing stories and laughter, I can not help but be thankful. Thankful for the daily provisions of food, a warm home, money in savings and our jobs. Thankful for the people who bring so much to our lives. Thankful for being able to afford another trip back to visit family. Thankful for the amazing husband and family I have been given. Thankful for the opportunity to worship and fellowship freely. Thankful for laughter and joy we experience, even in this broken world. Thankful for the salvation and hope I have in Christ. Thankful for the God who makes all this possible, even though I am so undeserving of His goodness and grace.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. There are no gifts involved- it is simply a day to gather together to enjoy the blessings God has given us and be thankful for them. How sweet is it that Americans have an entire day set aside simply to fellowship, eat some great food, and praise God. And, if you are stateside, you even get a day and sometimes two off of work to take part.
Living in Scotland, I don't get any time off for Thanksgiving, but we have always managed to fit it in somewhere. Usually Ross and I celebrate with our friends, who are or are married to American ex-pats. Each American involved brings something to contribute and the meal always ends up being a beautiful mixture of family traditions with a little bit of Scottishness thrown in. I know that some people find these kinds of holidays and festive meals a huge amount of work with little reward, but I love it. There is nothing sweeter to me than a group of friends and family gathered around, enjoying each other and the meal I have helped prepare. (The part I do hate is washing loads of dirty dishes, but Ross tends to save the day by offering to take care of this.)
When I look around a room a see a table piled high with tasty food, friends and family sharing stories and laughter, I can not help but be thankful. Thankful for the daily provisions of food, a warm home, money in savings and our jobs. Thankful for the people who bring so much to our lives. Thankful for being able to afford another trip back to visit family. Thankful for the amazing husband and family I have been given. Thankful for the opportunity to worship and fellowship freely. Thankful for laughter and joy we experience, even in this broken world. Thankful for the salvation and hope I have in Christ. Thankful for the God who makes all this possible, even though I am so undeserving of His goodness and grace.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Autumn, Augustus and A new Address
One of the best parts of Scotland is the seasons. You don’t always get all four convincingly- summer is often questionable- but watching the world change around you, as one season moves into the next, never gets old.
Now before you start to feedback whiny weather complaints from previous posts, let me remind you that I’m from Southern California, which generally waivers between cool and sunny, warm and sunny, or hot and sunny. The generally dry sunny climate is one of the reasons people flock to Southern California and willingly endure the oppressive smog and congested roads. As I child my world was perpetually green (or what I thought was green until I moved to Scotland and discovered shades of green so vivid they take your breath away.) ‘White Christmas’ was only something Rosemary Clooney sang about. I had scarves, mittens and coats, but these usually remained hidden away in the back of the closet, waiting for the occasional family trip up the mountains to some cabin in the snow.
The beginning of the Fall Semester is one of the most stressful and busy periods for University staff. (I seriously never appreciated how much goes into providing higher education when I was a student.) By the end of September I was exhausted and totally out of patience, but thankfully Ross and I arranged to take a couple days off to visit Fort Augustus.
Fort Augustus is a small town, located at the southernmost tip of Loch Ness. We got a special deal for our rooms, so we didn't know what to expect from the hotel, but it turned out to be a really cute little country hotel- The Inch Hotel:
Our trip consisted mostly of wandering and admiring the spectacular views. The timing of our trip meant that the woodlands were just on the cusp of autumn, with flickers of golden reds and yellows begining to break up the layers of green.
From the distant mountain peaks, to the rocky river beds, to the quaint towns and villages, each with their cute buildings and ridiculous 'Scottish' paraphernalia gift shops (seriously who buys the towel kilts and tartan hats with added red fuzzy sideburns?), there was plenty to see.
In the evening, we snuggled in front of the hotel's fire place to read for a bit, and Ross experienced his first taste of Talisker. We also ate an amazing meal at our hotel- the most tender leg of lamb with mashed potatos and beets. For dessert, I gorged myself on traditional sticky toffee pudding (They gave me an entire jug of hot toffee sauce to pour over the cake. It was so tasty that I made myself sick eating every last drop of that buttery, sugary goodness). My tummy may have rejected the excessive butter later, but it was totally worth it!
By the way, the weather was perfect- sunny, dry and a warm 65 degrees, with only one brief shower.
On another note, I can officially annouce that we will be moving soon (next week to be exact). I am super excited about this development, so I save more information on this for the next post.
Now before you start to feedback whiny weather complaints from previous posts, let me remind you that I’m from Southern California, which generally waivers between cool and sunny, warm and sunny, or hot and sunny. The generally dry sunny climate is one of the reasons people flock to Southern California and willingly endure the oppressive smog and congested roads. As I child my world was perpetually green (or what I thought was green until I moved to Scotland and discovered shades of green so vivid they take your breath away.) ‘White Christmas’ was only something Rosemary Clooney sang about. I had scarves, mittens and coats, but these usually remained hidden away in the back of the closet, waiting for the occasional family trip up the mountains to some cabin in the snow.
The beginning of the Fall Semester is one of the most stressful and busy periods for University staff. (I seriously never appreciated how much goes into providing higher education when I was a student.) By the end of September I was exhausted and totally out of patience, but thankfully Ross and I arranged to take a couple days off to visit Fort Augustus.
Fort Augustus is a small town, located at the southernmost tip of Loch Ness. We got a special deal for our rooms, so we didn't know what to expect from the hotel, but it turned out to be a really cute little country hotel- The Inch Hotel:
Our trip consisted mostly of wandering and admiring the spectacular views. The timing of our trip meant that the woodlands were just on the cusp of autumn, with flickers of golden reds and yellows begining to break up the layers of green.
From the distant mountain peaks, to the rocky river beds, to the quaint towns and villages, each with their cute buildings and ridiculous 'Scottish' paraphernalia gift shops (seriously who buys the towel kilts and tartan hats with added red fuzzy sideburns?), there was plenty to see.
In the evening, we snuggled in front of the hotel's fire place to read for a bit, and Ross experienced his first taste of Talisker. We also ate an amazing meal at our hotel- the most tender leg of lamb with mashed potatos and beets. For dessert, I gorged myself on traditional sticky toffee pudding (They gave me an entire jug of hot toffee sauce to pour over the cake. It was so tasty that I made myself sick eating every last drop of that buttery, sugary goodness). My tummy may have rejected the excessive butter later, but it was totally worth it!
By the way, the weather was perfect- sunny, dry and a warm 65 degrees, with only one brief shower.
On another note, I can officially annouce that we will be moving soon (next week to be exact). I am super excited about this development, so I save more information on this for the next post.
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